Breakaway protection for electrically controlled trailer brakes

摘要

A control system of the type which provides "breakaway" safety action to energize the electrically actuatable coils of brakes in a trailer pulled by a towing vehicle, the coils being energized under a breakaway condition from an auxiliary battery carried in the trailer. The system includes a voltage threshold indicator which is connected across the auxiliary battery and the coils and which enables the driver to test the auxiliary battery and clearly determine if the battery has sufficient storage capacity to keep the coils adequately energized while load current is being drawn from the battery and supplied to the actual coils themselves - such system being characterized by the provision of a current threshold sensor which prevents the indicator from providing a "safe" signal if the excitation circuit to the coils has been interrupted or if one or more of the coils has become disconnected from the circuit.